Bitter Sweet
by Saunders2
Summary: Love is a powerful and lasts far beyond the veil. But, not everybody holds on and missing pieces of what drives them to live can make them do terrible things. Excerpt- "Everyone leaves, nobody stays. And you, you promised to stay by my side, and look where we are now! Love- it's bittersweet."
1. Whiskey Lullaby: Part 1

**I think it's 'M' rated, but I'm not totally sure.**

**Alright, so this is my first story that is actually painful, so unless you can stand the pain of the way I'm ripping Chlerek apart, I would highly advise that you SKIP.**

**Summary: He had been gone for far too long. He didn't know what pain time could cause, nor did she.**

**Disclaimer:I only own my own tears as I wrote this.**

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><p><strong>Whiskey Lullaby - Part 1<strong>

_la la la la la la la (x2)_

_She put him out like the burnin' end of a midnight cigarette._

He had been gone so long, so very long, that he didn't understand how long he'd been gone. He took a deep breath before he opened the door to the house. It was exactly as he had remembered it, the grass had been freshly mown, the door oiled and the paint fresh and crisp. As he walked across the main hall, not a board squeaked and they were polished, the smell pf lemon cleaner filling the air. He smiled. Walking into the living room, he smiled at the bright walls and they welcoming decor. It was just like her, keeping the room welcome for guests, whether any were coming or not. He dropped his bag in the room and walked back out, continuing up the hall. He stopped at a shelf of pictures, each one of either them or their whole family, his brother and sister, his father and her's. Her smile, warm and bright, seemed to dominate each photo, leaving a happiness and love that only she could bring.

Suddenly, a sigh sounded upstairs. His confidence was renewed with the sound of a living soul, of her. He turned from the shelf and took the stairs quickly, but quietly, ready to surprise her with his return. As he reached the room, their room, he stopped just before opening the fixed his tie, took a deep breath, and pushed open the polished wooden door.

He wished he hadn't.

There she sat, rubbing her eyes. Beside her, however, was a man. And not just any man, his brother. He stepped backed, desperately trying to get away from the scene. He ran into the wall, the crash sounded, drawing the only other two occupants of the house out to see. They both stood in the doorway, gaping at him. She registered it first, and reached out for him. He shuddered under her fleeting touch before he ran, down the stairs, out the door and back into his car.

She followed him, calling his name, asking him to wait, to let her explain. His brother followed as well, pain and anguish written across his face. Yet, it was etched into Chloe's, tears ran down her face as she screamed out his name, calling for him over and over. When his vehicle was no more than a spot in the distant, she knew she had lost. Dropping to her knees, she called one more time, but she knew she wouldn't get any reply. Heart wrenching sobs escaped her, and as he drove away, they tore out of him as well.

_She broke his heart. He spent his whole life trying to forget. We watched him drink his pain, a little at a time._

Every time he woke, he looked to the sky. Each time it was like a his heart was being twisted, unimaginable pain coursing through him again as he saw the morning sky, the beauty of it as clear as her eyes. And he would reach to his bedside table, and grab for another bottle. He would gulp from it, and slowly, he drowned himself enough that it would ease enough for him that he could get up and move.

As he walked into another bar, he looked back, feeling eyes on him. He thought he saw her pure baby blues. He shook it off, and walked in. His sister watched, pain and sorrow streaking her gorgues features. She then began to look through the crowd once more until she found her. She fought her way through the crowd, blonde curls flying in her face and her blue eyes shattered as she pushed her way, trying to make it to him.

Tori, once she saw her friend and brother disappear within the bar, she then went in herself. Her brother was easily found, he sat at the end of the bar, another shot of whiskey on the tip of his tongue as he set down his glass. The friend was harder, but she found her. She was at the other end of the room, the crowd moving her around, but never in the direction she wished. Another shot of whiskey went down his throat and she flinched.

_But he never could get drunk enough to get off his mind, until the night._

Another crash sounded from upstairs and Tori flinched. Another crash. She heard him cry her name, it coming out as half sob and half tortured scream. The sound caused tears to burst from her eyes and pour down her face. Another crash nd then a the sound of something heavy falling. His worried sister's eyes widened as she feared that he had hurt himself physically, or more so. She dropped the plate, allowing it to shatter on the ground as she ran up the stairs.

_He put the bottle to his head and pulled the trigger. And finally drank away his memory. Life is short, but this time it was bigger, then the strength he had to get up off his knees._

The shot rang through the house, echoing. His dear sister stumbled, her eyes widening in shock.

"No." She mumbled. It registered. "No!" Her shriek filled the sudden quiet. She burst through the door of her brother's bedroom. There he lay, on his bed, limbs spread in all directions. Slowly, she crept up to him, fearing that her thoughts were true and that he was gone.

_We found him with his face down in the pillow, with a note that said, "I'll love her 'til die"_

Tori touched his arm, it was still warm, but the warmth was fading fast. She shook him gently, waiting for him to yell at her to leave him be. He didn't do anything.

"Derek?" she called quietly. No response."Derek!" Her cry was shrill and fearful, she continued to shake him, urging him desperately to wake up, to answer her. To yell at her to go away, or to smack her away. To move. There was no reply to any of her frantic efforts.

Sobbing, she ran downstairs and picked up her cell. She didn't think, just pushed buttons. Desperately, she paced around the living area, yelling at the phone, for the person she called to pick up.

"What the-" the male voice cut off as he heard the sobbing over the speaker. "Tori? Is everything alright?"

"Simon." she choked out, coming up short with what to say. "C-call C-c-chloe. An-and then g-get your b-butt over here." she hiccupped into the phone.

"Hey, are you drunk?" he asked. He didn't want to have to deal with his hung over sister when she got out of her stupor. The last time had gotten him a severe migraine.

"No!" his sister shrieked, positively horrified at the idea. "Just come over." she paused, then, in a soft voice, whispered, "It's Derek."

Her brother's eyes widened, but he couldn't see it. "I'll call Chloe as I drive over."

"okay." Tori whispered. She hung up.

After ten minutes of anxious waiting, and more desperate attempts to get an answer from Derek, though she knew it was hopeless, there was a knock at the door. Scrambling to answer, she threw open the door and hugged her brother. He was surprised but squeezed her tightly nonetheless. Relief washed through his damaged sister, along with all her pain, and she began to sob into his neck, letting out all her frustration and fear.

"Hey, hey." he cooed, suddenly unsure of how to handle this. He had never seen this side to her before, this emotional, broken side. It frightened him, causing him to wonder what had happened to Derek and how it had affected his brave, stubborn, crazy sister to the point of breaking. "Sis, what happened?"

"It caught up to him." her vice wa hard to understand, but he made no move to push her away. Instead, he picked her up and carried her into the house, closing the door behind them. As he passed the kitchen, he aw the shattered plate on the ground. He would ask her about it later, when she was calmer.

He sat upon the couch and let her rest on his lap. He continued to hold her, subtly rocking them. "What caught up to him? What did he do?"

"The pain, Simon." she sobbed. "It finally killed him." realizing what se had just said, her tears fell with renewed force and he shook, the sobs raking through her body. "I'll show you." she said softly.

Pulling away, she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. She stood up, and with Simon in tow, she lead him up to their brother's room.

She paused before shoving the door open and stepping in. There was a sharp intake of breath, and she glanced over at her brother. He was staring at his brother, at the blood that pooled on the left side of his head, at the revolver that laid on the ground, at his brothers tangled limbs.

"It's not true." he whispered, shaking his head. He didn't know that those same words raced through the head of the dead man before him, that he had begged to not be when the proof laid in front for him to plainly see.

The brother walked up to the man who laid unmoving on the bed, his sibling watching his every move with pain burning in her eyes. He stepped up to the front of the bed, and stood, staring the red pool that had been made by a small hole right above his ear. Tears began to run down his face as he bent down and lifted a piece of stained paper from out of his brother's blood. He read it out loud, just as Chloe walked in, having entered the unlocked front door.

"I, Derek Souza, will love her until I die. Even if the pain of doing so is what kills me."

"No!" both siblings in the room turned to the blonde haired girl who stood in the doorway. "No!' she cried again, dropping her purse on the floor. She didn't even flinch at the bang it made when it collided with the floor. she raced forward, pushing past Simon, but he stopped her from going any farther than he had. He grabbed her waist and pulled her towards him. He pulled her against his chest, and his arms constricted around her as she thrashed against him, her eyes wide, tears spilling from the blue orbs the dead man had adored. She called his name as she fought against her restraints, pain and anguish etched into her angelic face once more. She screamed for him, screaming out his name as she had not so many years ago, calling for him to come back.

And just like before, when she finally realized he was too far gone, she dropped, going limp in her captors arms. He loosened his arms, and she collapsed, falling to her knees as history repeated itself. So, once more, heart wrenching sobs were produced from the crumpled girl on the floor as she longed for the healing touch of her love.

_And when they buried him beneath the willow, the angels sang a whiskey lullaby._

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><p><strong>To be continued...<strong>


	2. Whiskey Lullaby: Part 2

Okay,** so here is Part 2 in this tale of woe.**

**D: Okay, my friend is becoming a user of weird words and I'm beginning to question her. What's this, Jo?**

**J: It's a ton of songfics that I either add to when I'm stuck or bored, or I add to when I have a request.**

**D: and you didn't tell me about it because?**

**J: You weren't here five minutes ago and it's brand new.**

**D: Ugh, fine. But I'm also adding to it.**

**J: you already are.**

**Disclaimer: No, DJ does not own Darkest Powers. As much as they wish it was different.**

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><p>Whiskey Lullaby - Part<em> 2<em>

_la la la la la la la, la la la la la la (x2)_

_The rumors flew, but nobody knew how much she blamed herself._

All the guests had left, the preacher was gone, and all that was left was a blonde haired, blue eyed woman staring at the ground beneath the willow tree, the willow tree that held so many memories. The reason she had asked for him to be buried in this particular place and not in a cemetery.

She wanted to scream, she wanted to wail, she wanted to shriek to high heaven. But she was out in the open. Where far too many people would see her anguish.

Pushing herself up from the ground, she stood and held her head high as she walked the trail that lead from this particular spot to her home. Or, what used to be. And when she climbed the gleaming steps, past the mown lawn and the trimmed trees and the colorful flowers, did she look back. And all she was met with was the setting sun. Sighing, she took the remaining steps inside. Dropping her bag on the floor, the echo of it made the house feel less empty. Less dead. But the next echo wasn't because of loneliness.

The screen door hit with a _thwap_, and when the actual door hit, her scream accompanied it. The sound bounced off the walls, but she didn't care about that anymore. Pain and guilt and frustration boiled in her and rage fueled it all. Anger at him, for leaving her. Anger at Simon, for having been there. But most of all, anger at herself, for having not stopped him, for not having him listen. That she had let him slip right through her grasp. That his death was all her fault.

Another scream, an anguished cry with nothing but pain and guilt filling it, escaped her throat as she remembered the note, the note that had been soaked in his blood. Just like her hands. She might as well have pulled the trigger. The scream tore through her vocal cords as she came to the conclusion that she killed him. That her love's blood was on her hands. She couldn't handle this. She had to get away. Away from the man she had killed.

She heard her feet pounding up the steps before she registered what she was doing. Her feet carried her away from it all, as far away as she could get.

Chloe crashed into the wall upstairs, but no pain was felt. Her sobs filled the air as she crashed through her home. She found photos of the two of them, happy and ready to take on the world, and smashed them, threw them. Ones with the whole family she pushed off the shelves, not knowing what she did through her anguish. Glass littered the floor, was buried in her hands, entrapped in her foot. Bloody footsteps were everywhere, bloody handprints marking walls, furniture and picture frames. Her screams accompanying the shatters and crashing of objects.

And when she was done, only two pictures remained. One of him leaving, waving at the camera as he got in his car, his smile sad but happy, joyous as he was wished farewell and good luck. And the other.

The other was of the two of them when they were fifteen and sixteen, only four months after they had first met, three months after they had shared their first kiss, two months after they had told each other 'I love you', one month after they had started school again, three weeks since they had had their first fight, two hours since they started their first date, one minute before the camera flashed, her on his lap, arms around his neck, holding on for dear life as she laughed at their foolishness. Him, holding her close, arms strong and comforting around her waist as he smiled at her, knowing that she was forever his. Just as he- she- _they_ had wanted it.

She laid her head back against the wall and tipped the bottle to her lips, the horrid smell of whiskey filling her nose, the dreadful taste sliding down her throat, but relief, however small, was granted, and she flipped the bottle of whiskey upside down, ready to ease the sharp, piercing, cutting sensation that threatened to destroy her alive. And while she had no reason to live for, she still drank.

_For years and years, she tried to hide the whiskey on her breath._

Twenty-eight years of age, and still she drank. Three years of knowing her only cure for the cutting edge pain that seemed to live withing was this, she continued to do it. Even on this night.

She finished her make-up, silver-black eyeshadow, silver eyeliner and thick mascara drew your attention to her face. She had used concealer to hide the dark spots under her eyes, the only indication of her pain. Nightmares had plagued her for weeks, and almost always the same.

She fiddled with the blacks straps of her black dress. It barely reached her knees and a sapphire blue belt, tied in a bow on her left side, wrapped just a little below her rib cage. Black flats with little blue diamond studs making a simple design encased her feet. Her hands were covered by elegant black, elbow-length gloves, blue beads on her left wrist. A silver chain hung around her neck, a blue and green gem design falling into the hole in her collar bone, drawing your attention to her breasts. her blonde hair was up in a simple bun, but black lace encased it. This look was dark, but whenever she went out, black was what she wore. From black jeans and a black tee to what she wore now, it was always black.

Three years of pain with nothing but whiskey to help numb it was an awfully long time to hide her problem. But she could care less. Hiding the fact that she drank was no hassle.

_We watched her drink her pain away, a little at a time. But she never could get drunk enough to get him off of her mind._

Another bar, another guy. His hands rested on her hips, squeezing tightly, leaving bruises as he sloppily kissed her neck. He brought his mouth back up to hers and tried to hiss her senseless. And as soon as his lips touched hers, the whiskey did a number.

Everything seemed to tilt, and suddenly, a random guy was no longer kissing her. Derek stood there, his eyes closed, mouth settled in a satisfied smirk as his large hands squeezed her hips gently, hands now moving up her back, lightly brushing and rendering her breathless. She immediately closed her eyes and kissed him back eagerly, her hands tightening around his neck as her fingers played with the tendrils of hair that rested on the nape within her reach.

He pushed her down onto the bed and his tongue ran along her lower lip, causing her to gasp and her eyes to fly open as she allowed him entrance.

The world tilted again, and the perfect stranger was in front of her, his tongue in her mouth, one hand wrapped in her hair while the other gripped her butt. His body pressed against hers in the most uncomfortable way as he laid on top of her with her laying on the bed,

She pushed him off, pushed him away. His unbuttoned shirt flew open. She sat up, and pushed him again, away from her and out of her room. Standing, she continued to push him out, him rejecting all the way. She gave one final shove and out her door he was. She slammed it in his face and locked it.

Tears streaming down her face, she reaches over to her vanity and grabbed the whiskey bottle.

_Until the night... She put that bottle to her head and pulled the trigger, and finally drank away his memory._

A whiskey bottle and one of her last pictures of him, a picture of him after he graduated college, a grin on his face, were gripped firmly in her hands as she raced away from her empty, dead house, skirts and hair flying behind her.

She ran, her destination in mind, the only place she had visited in the last week. His grave.

The willow sat there, shading his home. She practically fell to her knees before him. Tears slid down her face in never ending streams as she stared at the dying flowers that laid next to his headstone.

"I'm sorry." she murmurs, than opens her other hand and pills roll around, thirty or so more. She lifts that hand to her lips and pours the pills into her mouth. She takes her whiskey bottle and begins to drain it, taking pills down with every gulp.

And, she just sits there and waits, finishing off the last of her bottle of whiskey.

_Life is short, but this time it was bigger than the strength she had to get up on her knee, We found her with her face down in the pillow, clinging to his picture for dear life. We laid her next to him beneath the willow..._

They find her together. And instead of the feeling of dread and grief filling them, they feel relief. They feel her loss, but she is gone, and she no longer suffers.

She lays there, her upper body across his grave. And in her right hand, is a photo. A photo of him, his smile, his eyes, his love. And she grips it tightly, and even though in dead, she never loosens her grip.

_... While the angels sang a whiskey lullaby._

_la la la la la la la , la la la la la la la (x2)_

Everyone's leaving, but she wants one last glance. Black hair swings as her crystalline blue eyes look back at the willow. And, she can see them. He walks out from behind, staring at his shoes as the kick the ground. She comes from the other side, her smile apologetic but glances up to see her, and in that moment, all is forgiven.

They rush to each other, arms wrapping around the other as the embrace, the simple embrace they both had waited for for so long is are safe in the other's arms once again.

She smiles. They're happy. They are reunited once more. And while she will never see them again, not for a long time at least, the six-year-old has the comfort of knowing that her mother and father are safe and happy one more time.

She turns away, but her smile never fades.

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><p><strong>See, I told you it would have a happy ending. I did tell you that, didn't I?<strong>

**Oh, well.**

**Toodles!**

**-DJ**


	3. Cold as You

**Hey! Sorry this took me so long. I hope you like this and well, yeah.**

**Disclaimer: all rights belong to Kelley Armstrong, for this wonder series, and Taylor Swift, for her wonderful lyrics.**

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><p><strong>Summary<strong>:** One year is enough. One year causes plenty of damage. And one year of avoidance always causes problems. After one year, Chloe has the biggest challenge to face- feigning nonchalance. Can she do it? Or will she burn, although, she seems more likely to be frozen by the ice of pain and shattered by the hammer of loneliness?**

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><p><strong>Cold as You<strong>

I blew the hair out of my face and shoved the keys into the ignition, turning on the machine. As soon as I did, the car roared to life, as did the C.D. player. I punched the button that switched it to the radio and them slammed it off. The song was playing on both the radio _and_ the CD. A coincidence? I think not.

The date stared me in the face, orange light up letters on a tiny screen, taunting me. I closed my eyes and rested my head against the head rest and sighed, the air blowing through my nose. I put my arm over my eyes and flinched when something hit the corner of my eye. Pulling my arm away, I saw the nuisance:

My watch.

I stared at the numbers that were illuminated on the tiny screen. 6:30. And underneath it, the date. I choked as the little numbers demanded attention, seeming to glare at me. I wanted so badly to look away, but I couldn't. The torturous numbers held me captive until a honk of a car sounded in front of me.

I jumped a little and tore my gaze away from my watch. The garage was open, a black, sleek-looking automobile in the entrance. The red tail lights told me to move and I looked down to switch the gears before my eyes wandered to the rearview mirror and I began to cry; I knew what I would find up there.

I pulled out of the driveway and turned onto the still quiet street, windows dark as the sun just barely began to peek over the mountains. I drove down the silent roads, the silence just as still and hostile in my car no matter how loud the heater roared. I shivered despite the beginning to burn heat. No matter how warm it got, I would always be cold, my heart beating feebly as it tried to keep me alive. Alive for what? I don't know. Most likely more pain.

I stopped at the street light, the red light seeming to glare at me as if to say, _"You stupid girl, falling then burning. You didn't even have him burn with you. Stupid girl, don't you learn?" _

Just to keep from staring at the light, I glanced in the rearview mirror. A mistake. The black car was behind me, and the still rising sun didn't do anything to hide who sat there. A tall figure sat in the driver's seat, black hair falling in their eyes. Green eyes, hard and guarded. They glared at the back of my car and I flinched. He looked up and met my gaze for a second in the mirror and I quickly looked away, pain flaring in my chest, making it hard to breathe as my heart wailed in agony.

The light changed to green and it did nothing to help me. As I sped towards the interstate, I didn't see how it helped at all. The green might've been the green of spring grass, but it was green. Nothing, not even a difference in shade, made the burden any lighter. I choked as I struggled to keep my sobs down. I pushed harder against the gas pedal and flew down the nearly empty road, doing seventy. Even that wasn't enough to outrun the pain.

Hoping to drown myself out, my cries for _him_, I turned on the radio.

_ You have a way of coming easily to me._

The song met my saddened cries and shhed them, as the sweet, sad, pained voice sang. An image of _him_ burned to the front of my mind's eye, every little detail blown up for me to see. The song, plus his picture, urged me to cry. The first, hot tear burned down my face, leaving a hot, salty trail down my face where it pooled in the corner of my mouth. It was the first wave of the dam.

_And when you take, you take the very best of me_

_So, I start a fight 'cause I need to feel something_

As the tears spill down my cheeks, I think of all the things that I said. All my retorts. All his replies. All the pain. I think about the fights we got into, where we would both end up crying, wouldn't talk to each other for weeks and then, when one says the other's name, all is forgiven. It was torture, because we would be living in a façade, a lie. We would pretend we were happy, because, we were really just huddling, waiting for the next fight. The next rude words. The next unkind comment. The next shot of pain. The next heart-break.

_You do what you want 'cause I'm not what you wanted!_

My hands shake and I can barely keep the steering wheel still. My watering eyes make the road blurry and I have a hard time seeing where I'm going, keeping to the correct lane. The exit signs fly past in flurry of black blobs and I blink back the tears, trying to focus on the speedometer.

85.

_Oh, what a shame! What a rainy ending given to the perfect day._

A streak of lightning runs across the sky and I begin to notice that my tears were not the only reason I couldn't see.

It's raining.

A crack of thunder surprises me and I let out a yelp. Immediately, I slam the wipers on and the world is open to me. I slow down, bringing my speed to 65. Suddenly, a red light flashes in the corner of my eye. I glance at the road, steady the wheel and look down at it.

I'm low on gas.

_Just walk away ain't no use defending words that you will never say._

"I'm sorry." the words ring in my head with the singer's words. "I'm sorry." Those never meant anything. They never have. They don't _fix_ anything. They leave a fake trail of happiness and blindness as you slowly walk away from the pain and keep walking, simply waiting for the next time. For the snake to bite you again. To apologize again. To leave a mark again. To hurt again.

I glance at the road signs that tell me what's at the next stop. A few motels, a couple of restraunts, a few casinos, weirdly enough, but no gas stations. I crank up my speed a little, going to 70, and cross my fingers it will get me to the next exit faster.

About three miles later, I'm staring at more exit signs as they fly past. One says there is a Flying J a few miles away. I pull to the exit lane.

_And now that I'm sitting here thinking it through, I've never been anywhere cold as you._

I realize that the song playing on the radio is no longer the song playing in my head, but the lyrics are there anyways.

_You put up walls and paint them all the shade of gray._

I turn off the music on the radio and listen instead to the lyrics in my head. I pull up to the light, red shining hazily through the dreary rain as it hailed down on me. As I waited for the light turn to green, my blinker on, I see headlights shining bright right behind me. I looked in the rearview mirror to see nothing beside the two glowing orbs due to the heavy fall of tears from the sky.

It's like the sky is crying with me.

I shake my head, from both the idea and the anonymous car behind me, and turn left, as the light is allowing me to.

_And I stood there loving you and wished them all away._

I sigh as I drive down the quiet dirt road, gravel churning underneath my tires, sticky from the rainfall. The silence of the rain batteries e ring against my car was interrupted when my cell phone went off. I dug it out of my back pocket and glanced down at the screen.

**BLOCKED NUMBER**

I stare sadly at the screen, glancing at the road only to make sure I wouldn't run into a tree. I only knew one person who had blocked their number from me, though I had their number programmed into my phone. I even had it on speed dial. I stared at the number a moment longer before sliding it over with my thumb.

**CALL ENDED - YOU HAVE 1 MISSED CALL**

Sadness boiled in my stomach as I remember the first time I had answered that exact same number. Having said 'Hello' to the person on the other end, I wasn't expecting to have my heart shattered. Hearing his voice, demanding that- well, I don't remember what it was anymore, but I'd hung up. He'd been furious, he'd called me twice more, but I never answered. I was too broken to only hear him demand things.

But, it also killed me to know that he'd blocked his number. He'd put a wall between us, painful and cutting. It separated us, probably more than it should. But, that wall, it hurt me. I don't know if it hurt him.

I beg everyday for him to take it down. Maybe not verbally, but in my heart. I plead for him to do so.

It might make this simpler, or even better.

_And you come away with a great little story. Of a mess, of a dreamer with the nerve to adore you._

_Oh, what a shame! What a raining ending given to the perfect day._

I toss the phone into the passenger seat and drive on. My car makes a weird singing sound and I check my gas-

I'll barely make it.

Run splatters against my windshield, making it hard to see even though my wipers are going double time.

_Just walk away, ain't no use defending words that you will never say._

My heart burns as I listen to the lyrics in my head. The rain seems to taking on a rhythmic beat, following the song's melody.

Lightning flashes across the sky, my car's tires screech as they hit a particularly nasty bit of mud and my car slams off. I scream as I'm thrown against my seatbelt.

The only sound other than my labored breathing is the sound of the rain hitting my car.

In the middle of nowhere, my car broken down, in the middle of a rainstorm.

_And now that I'm sitting here thinking it through,_

My phone has zero bars as I slam it shut. How He got a hold of me earlier befuddled me now as I remember the little x by my signal, saying that I couldn't reach out to anyone for help.

I consider screaming. I've always hated that in movies, heroines that scream for help when cornered. However I didn't think anyone would hear me.

I got out of my car, thinking that the Flying J couldn't be much farther. I could buy the gas there, call a tow on the phone, use the bathroom.

My hair was soaked as soon as I closed the door. I shivered underneath my huge coat, wishing that it had a hood. I hurried as quickly as I could to the patch of trees off to the side of the road, hoping they would give me some shelter.

Bright lightning flashed across the sky and it illuminated a tree. I stared at, unsure if I had seen correctly. There was no way that what I saw was what I thought. I lived in Pennsylvania, yes, but we lived two hours or so away from the spot.

I walked over as thunder rolled through the earth, long, dark and lingering. Just like the storm clouds. I touched the trees bark, rough and gritty. The same way bark always is. I brushed my hand over the trunk to see if it was there.

_I've never been anywhere cold as you._

My hand hit a mark, like something had dug away at the bark to make a slightly curved line. I followed, trying to figure out what shape it made. Finding a spot where the bark was slightly in the design, like it was jagged; a sharp point. I flinched as I realized what it was:

A heart.

I pulled my hand away just as lightning streaked across the sky and I saw the design.

A heart, a little rusty, but otherwise, flawless in construction. Inside were two initials, a plus sign signaling their devotion.

We'd been silly kids when we did this, but seeing it now, my heart screamed in despair and desolation. The bark held it for eternity, holding it together.

Unlike us.

D + C

We weren't forever. We didn't stand tall. We didn't hold. We shattered.

_You never did give a dang thing, honey, but I cried, cried for you._

I yelped when lights suddenly appeared on the tree and I spun around, turning to see a dark shape with two glowing headlights shining on me and the tree. I shielded my eyes from the blinding light, trying to see past the glare.

The lights shut off, as did the vehicle, and the driver's side opened, revealing a tall man. I couldn't make much else of him out, however, he bared down on me and I shrunk into the tree, looking to either side of me for an escape route.

"What were you thinking?" Derek's low, deep, threatening and, to those who knew him well, frightened voice growled.

"I-I-I" I stuttered over my words, unable to comprehend anything.

"Did you think to check you gas mileage before you took off, how much of an idiot are you?" the comment stung, and I snapped back before I even knew what I was doing.

Tears flowed down my cheeks as I said, "A pretty big one, since I ended up with you."

He reeled back as if he'd been slapped. Then, he marched forwards until he was right in front of me, glaring, but beneath the hard angry, green glass was a shattered, hurt look.

"That's not what you said before."

"You weren't like this before."

_And I know you wouldn't have told nobody if I died, died for you._

"Chloe," he reached towards me, one hand attempting to snatch my hand. I jumped out of the way, leaving the tree in full view. I may love him, he may hurt me, but I wasn't going to bend. If I lasted a year, I can last forever.

_Died for you._

"No Derek." I say, glaring up at him. "Don't try to help me, to try to tell me you love me. I'm not blind any more."

"I- Chloe, I"

"Just go away Derek." I turned away. Another stream of lightning hit the sky.

Derek gasped and I looked back to see him staring at the tree. "This is our tree." He whispered. "From out first kiss."

"Yeah." I'm about to go back on my way when he blurts out, "Do you remember Springsteen?"

"Springsteen, the song?" I'm confused. He hated that song.

"Mm-hmm."

_Oh, what a shame! What a rainy ending given to the perfect day... Ahh!_

_Every smile you fake is so condescending, counting all the scars you've made._

I sang the first few bars of the chorus. "_When you think it about me, Do you think about seventeen? Do you think about my old Jeep? Think about the stars in the sky?"_

_"Funny how a melody, sounds memory. Like a sound track to July, Saturday night." _He sang back in his sweet, deep base. "That was our song."

"Our song? How about the song I listened to over and over again and tried to get you to sing but you thought it was ridiculous." I mumbled, remembering how I'd crank it up in my room, when we were home alone, in the car anywhere I could get away with. He never sang along.

"Chloe, I know you love that song. I hear you playing it everyday on your radio. Please, I'm so-"

"Sorry?" I snapped, angry with the cursed word. "You're saying sorry? For what? Making me live everyday with this sadness and pain? For killing me and leaving me? Don't say you're sorry, Derek, when sorry is just another empty promise."

"Chloe!" He grabbed my arm and pulled me in front of the tree, pointing at the heart.

_And now that I'm sitting here, thinking it through,_

"Chloe, so you see this? Do you see this?"

"I see it, Derek!" I said, wanting to get away from him. The way his body pressed against mine, his arm holding me there brought back memories- memories I didn't want to see.

"It's been here for eight whole years! Tell me, we've been together seven of those! If we could work through that, we can work together now!"

"What have you been drinking?" I whispered. "We're done for. We're over. We-"

"And yet we're still living in the same house. If we can do that, we can fix this. Chloe, please."

"Derek, I- I can't!" I felt the warm tears slide down my cheeks, combining with the cold rain droplets. "Everyone leaves, nobody stays. And you, you promised to stay by my side, and look where we are now! Love- it's bittersweet. Derek, I can't do it, not again."

"Chloe, please." He moved to face me, placing both hands on my shoulders. "We can do this, give me a second chance."

"At what, Derek? At putting on a show? Fooling me?"

"No," his face was so close I could feel his breath on my lips. "A second chance at loving you."

He just waited there, mouth inches from mine, simply waiting for me to seal the deal. I touched his lips, and I was immediately fifteen again. Brave, wild and free. But, the thing is, I really had never been anywhere as cold as him.

_I've never been anywhere cold as you._

* * *

><p><strong>And here's Cold as You by Taylor Swift. I hope you liked it, thanks for reading. And the next short, Let Her Go by Passenger, should be out within the month.<strong>

**-Jo**


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